Winter Wonderland
by Roo1965
Summary: Jim goes for his morning run and has fun in the sun, Blair ends up looking for him....and the breakfast cinnamon rolls. Light fluff.


**Winter Wonderland**

Although it was Sunday, Jim's body clock woke him early. He glanced at the clock-0657. The day ahead was free for him to do anything he wanted. After a week of interviewing suspects, paperwork, and a fruitless stakeout, he needed to clear his mind.

He lay a moment and scanned the apartment. All was as it should be- Blair fast asleep downstairs, boiler coming on for the shower water, that kind of thing.

He got up quietly and dressed in running sweats and vest. After a quick wash and shave, he drank some water and ate a banana. He penned a note for Blair. He checked his shoes again, that he had some cash and his keys and left. He'd probably be back, as usual before Blair had even crawled out of bed.

Emerging onto the street, he breathed in the cool fresh air, after the warmth of the apartment. It was a beautiful almost clear February morning. Dark and cold, granted, but wonderful. It would be even better when the sun got up in about half an hour. After all he could see perfectly well. He jumped up and down for a bit and did some stretches before slowly beginning to jog towards the park. As he warmed up, he could feel his body getting into a rhythm, moving cleanly. Oh yeah, it was going to be a good day. He mentally debated with himself how many circuits of the park track he would do this time before finishing off with the mini trail assault course. Of course it wasn't as tough as the ones he'd done in Basic or Ranger training, but he appreciated the routine all the same.

Reaching the park, he tabbed the timer on his watch to see how his circuits were this time. He tried to keep in shape at the gym on the machines and the weights, but running in the open air was the best.

Of course, he chided himself he could only run when his schedule allowed it. But he felt good when he managed some sort of routine.

Blood singing, heart pumping he felt alive as the night turned into day with the sunrise, his breath clouding as he ran. To help him along, he sometimes mentally added the voice of a drill sergeant 'shouting' at him as he ran. What Blair would make of that he had no idea, but it worked for him. Perhaps he shouldn't tell Blair after all…

'Pick it up, pick it up, soldier. Faster, get those legs moving!' A virtual task master. His current run times would win no prizes for the platoon, but it was the only sort of discipline he could enforce on himself. Hoo- ah, indeed. You can take the soldier out of the army, but you can't take the army out of the soldier…

Time passed, he did his circuits and then he headed for the trail course. He neatly traversed the log, next stepping through the tyres with efficiency. By the time he approached the first hurdle, he was moving smoothly, the second and third hurdles were no problem. Finally the rope swing- his favourite. Damn, he felt good. The sun was up, changing the way everything looked. He could do a final slow jog round and then home.

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Blair woke up cocooned in his sheets and blankets, feeling cold when he should feel… toasty. Morning sun greeted Blair as he yawned his way out of his room and headed for the bathroom. Washed and wide awake some 15 minutes later he realised it was very quiet in the apartment. No cheery voice from Jim saying 'afternoon' as his way of saying 'what time do you call this?' He shivered suddenly. Time to get dressed he thought.

Then he saw the note on the table

"Morning, it's 0720- I'm going for a run in the park. I'll pick up some cinnamon rolls for breakfast on my way back. Jim"

As he put the kettle on for tea and coffee to go with the rolls he looked up at the clock. 0857. He got dressed, rushed out again, and looked at the clock 0905.

Hadn't Jim been gone a long time? How long did he normally take? he asked himself- an hour? A bit more than that?

He opened the door to the balcony and peered up and down the street. Nope, no sign of him chatting to neighbours, kids or dogs. No sign of him playing a pick up game of basketball at the end of the street either. It's freezing out here! he thought as he hurriedly came back inside. He got his coat and keys and decided to check at the bakery first then the park.

The people at the bakery hadn't seen Jim, but he bought the rolls and some coffees to go anyway. The feeling that something wasn't quite right but not knowing what, forced his pace towards the park.

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Lost in the brightness, it was a while before Jim registered a warm hand on his arm and the aroma of coffee under his nostrils. He blinked, his eyes hurt. He was cold. A warm polystyrene cup of coffee was placed in his hands.

"Jim? You with me yet?"

He smelled cinnamon rolls and felt hungry. Memory returned, sunshine, run, distracted, frost, crystalline calling him.

"Blair?"

"Who else, buddy?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I had to buy my own rolls for breakfast you know. You said you'd bring them"

"I just sat down for a moment. You're up early."

"What time do you think it is?"

"About 0830 something like that."

"It's now almost 0920. I guess you zoned. What happened?"

"I was fine, had a great run. I sat down to look at the view. Some people playing with their dog. Then some clouds cleared and the sun hit this patch of ground over there. Something flashed, and I looked over at it. I don't know how to describe it, it was beautiful."

"What was?"

"Frost. Pure frost. I could see its shape- the crystals, it was feathery, so unexpected. Then it started to melt in the sun. I guess I was dazzled."

"Communing with nature, huh? Just wait till I tell the guys!"

"Sandburg!"

"Let's go home. You must be frozen. I'm cold."

"Actually I don't feel too bad. I suppose the sun kept me warm. But you're right a warm shower sounds good."

They sat in the sunshine admiring the view for a few minutes longer finishing the coffee and rolls and headed off back to the Loft.

End

Notes  
Frost often appears as a light feathery deposit of ice, often of a curious and delicate pattern.

Neither a ground nor an air frost are the white crystals seen on the grass on a cold morning. This is 'hoar frost', which forms when the air cools and water condenses onto the grass. It is actually dew if it forms at temperatures above freezing, but if it forms below zero degrees it is hoar frost.

Hoar frost is very different from frozen dew. Frozen dew is dew that has frozen after it has formed. They are very different to look at, frozen dew looks like frozen water droplets, and hoar frost is a delicate icy structure. Clear skies help all kinds of frost to form. When the night is cloud free, heat can escape from the earth quicker, without being 'blanketed' by the clouds, allowing the temperatures drop enough to form a frost. It is also the origin of the proverb 'clear moon, frost soon'.


End file.
